Roses 2: Granny Asks Why I Did It!

Yesterday I was talking to my grandmother about the Rose's and she was mortified that I'd stayed there. She asked if I actually did what Lorraine asked, and said she hoped I did NOT clean the toilet when they wouldn't even flush. I told her I did. I flushed their crap and then cleaned the toilet with gloves on (as usual). She asked if I had fished the container for duck marmalade out of the dumpster. I did not do that. I was asked repeatedly to do it, and I just ignored the request. Lorraine said she needed me to dig to the bottom of a dumpster to find the bottle so she knew what brand it was. I knew as well as she that if she wanted to find the brand again, she could go back to the store. I was not going to rummage through her trash that had been sitting out there for a week.

But in general, I did what I was told to do because I was somewhat naive, very sweet, very religious, and believed what I did was a service to God. To me, even though I was doing the worst jobs, if I could do them cheerfully, I was working "as unto the Lord" and I saw Jesus as my boss, not the Rose's. I figured if Jesus could make sacrifices, so could I, and felt I was sharing in His suffering when I did so. So did the woman before me, from whom I got the job, Penny. We went to the same church at the time. I was very sincere. I was 23-24 years old. At the time, I never watched rated-R movies (which is why the lesbian erotica shocked me), I was a virgin (which I mention because the media coverage about Clinton and Lewinsky was on full-time at the Rose house and it bothered me--Lorraine said, "We're all adults" but I did not and preferred not to hear about "adult matters" I had no experience in and was saving for marriage), I had no enemies, went to church 3 times a week, and I prayed for the Rose family (health, wealth, happiness) every time I went there to work. A repairman was working in the house once the same time I was there and he asked me how in the world I could tolerate Lorraine. He went on and on about how I must be a saint. I just smiled. However, even with the patience of a saint, when it came to legal matters, to discover the tax evasion, I was not happy that my employers had tried to steal from me, while depriving me of the benefits of self-employment and in fact, firing me when I did something for myself (enroll in college classes to take after work hours for Lorraine).

I worked for the Rose's in 1997-1998 (pretty sure)for a little over one year. I remember working before one Passover to the next.

They say people don't change. I've changed. I'm the better for it, I might add.